


Leave A Trace

by screamingatstars



Series: Based off of TODTD’s TOH Animatics [3]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Again, Gen, Introspection, Luna makes me cry again, Memories, Songfic, based off an animatic, so once again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25678327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screamingatstars/pseuds/screamingatstars
Summary: “I gave up on timeJust like you said you wouldThere are tiny cracks of light underneath meAnd you say I got it wrongBut I tried hard to uncover them”Willow has to reflect on her past friendship with Amity.Once again based off an animatic by ThatOneDorkThatDraws
Relationships: Amity Blight & Willow, Gus & Luz Noceda & Willow
Series: Based off of TODTD’s TOH Animatics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862833
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Leave A Trace

**Author's Note:**

> Luna really out here making me cry aGAIN, and right after such an emotional episode too, the talent is unmatched
> 
> Seriously, if you haven’t seen the original animatic this is based off of yet, don’t judge that by the quality of this fic, the animatic is a million times better than this thing here. I have developed an addiction to writing fic versions of these animatics, they’re lots of fun to write and also help me work through the emotions they inevitably make me feel. 
> 
> the original animatic:
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=awadPGYGYIY

I gave up on time

Just like you said you would

There are tiny cracks of light underneath me

and you say I got it wrong

But I tried hard to uncover them

She was up far later than she should have been, gazing up at the stars and letting the cold night air surround her. She’d tried practicing magic, manipulating some of her plants to grow or shrink or stand up out of their pots, but it hadn’t helped to distract her from her thoughts. Eventually, she had given up, leaning on her elbows against the balcony railing and standing in silence. Trying not to remember.

It had taken her a long time to be able to even think about Amity without wanting to cry. The words her own best friend had thrown at her, angry and unapologetic, had lodged themselves inside her heart and taken root: an insidious overgrowth that Willow could do nothing to control. 

The work of years had slowly chipped away at them, loosening the hold those words had on her, but no matter what she tried, she couldn’t make them fully leave. Her own self-worth had been stunted, strangled for so long by Amity’s accusation of weakness, that even now she wasn’t fully sure where her own wanting to improve ended, and that horrible presence that screamed  _ weak  _ inside her head in Amity’s voice began.

She knew that things could never be the same between them. That the friendship she had once valued the most was gone forever, and that Amity Blight would never look at her without disdain again. Willow knew that.

So why, now that she had made new friends and proven her own power and moved on, was she unable to leave all these memories behind her?

High up in the night sky, as if ushering in a dream, a shooting star arced across her vision.

Anything you ever did was strictly by design

But you got it wrong

And I’ll go anywhere but there

As if in response, a soft pink glow rose up from below, and Willow looked down from the stars to find brilliant orbs, like those cast from a light spell, floating slowly upwards and illuminating the whole room. They were beautiful, casting faint, pink-tinted shadows everywhere. Even if she had no idea where they had come from, she still found herself marveling at them.

And that was the moment every single one of her plants began to glow, emitting a bright pink light that was achingly familiar. Her heart skipped a beat, and that was all it took for the glow to turn into a flame, enveloping the stems and dancing off the leaves. She gasped, thrusting a hand towards it without thinking, intending to draw a circle and cast a spell, but a lick of fire touched her finger, bringing no heat with it. The flames, whatever they were, were not fully real.

Turning around, she was met with the sight of a single, larger orb, gleaming and sparkling brighter than the rest, moving closer to her and coming to rest at eye level. The rest of the light was beginning to become overwhelming, engulfing her room, while a sense of foreboding built in her chest.

She could’ve sworn she felt a presence, coming from the orb in front of her. One that reminded her of everything she did not want to think about.

Willow stared it down, silently wishing it away. Focusing.

Take care to tell it just as it was

Take care to tell on me for the cause

I know I need to feel released

Take care to bury all that you can

Take care to leave a trace of a man

So when the floor beneath her gave out, she was entirely unprepared.

Under her feet, the floorboards quickly splintered apart, dropping her not into the room below, but into her own memories.

Lights flashed before her eyes, taking shape and fading away as fast as she could take them in. Scenes from the past, before everything had changed. Before  _ Amity  _ had changed.

The two of them, playing together in a field, laughing as they picked the biggest flowers they could find and wove them together into crowns. 

Sneaking into the library unnoticed, and reading all the books they could find together until the librarians chased them out.

Sitting side-by-side on swings, neither of them moving, only talking until it was time to leave.

Walking down the street, hands clasped, secure in the knowledge that they would always be friends.

Until, of course, the times when Amity started pulling away. When the distance between them was larger, and the silences stretched on longer. 

Once the threshold was crossed, it was impossible to go back, and these more recent memories hurt more to look back on.

The times when Willow would make a joke, and Amity wouldn't laugh. When they would pass each other in the halls, and Amity wouldn’t look her way. When they were sitting on a bench, and Willow could never seem to figure out why Amity never smiled.

You talk far too much

For someone so unkind

I will wipe the salt off my skin

And I’ll admit that I got it wrong

And there is gray between the lines

Except now, looking back at them as if she could see herself from the outside, she noticed things she never had before. Like the way Amity’s eyes were filled with sadness, or the way her ears drooped ever so slightly. The slump to her shoulders, the guilt on her face, the tiny glance back after Willow passed by.

Minute moments that spelled out a completely different narrative than Willow had first assumed.

She chased the understanding, hoping to find more telling signs, the final piece of the puzzle. The solution to the problem, the closure to the story.

Instead, falling farther down her own memory lane, she found the present.

The first day of school, and Amity’s flawless abomination, looking down patronizingly at her own failed attempt. The mocking words that came from an entire posse of bullies, spearheaded by Amity herself, silent. The way she looked right through Willow, as if their years of friendship meant less than nothing.

Had they ever really been friends in the first place, then? Had it all been pretend? Did Amity always see her as she saw her now, as a weakling? As a failure?

_ Maybe if that’s what Amity thinks, it’s true. _

The words were trying to burrow deeper into her heart, breaking through all her progress. Willow wasn’t sure she had the strength to deny them anymore.

Until she saw a hand reaching out for her, beckoning. Luz was reaching for her, Gus at her side, both of them wearing such sincere expressions that it almost hurt. Her friends. 

Her friends were here to rescue her.

She took Luz’s hand, and found the strength to push away the echoes of  _ weak.  _ She stood, taking Gus’s hand, too, and letting  _ half-a-witch  _ slide off her back. Together, the three of them walked away, leaving  _ weak  _ far behind.

This time, Willow didn’t look back.

  
  
  



End file.
